haj preparation

11 more days... okay, that's getting a little bit worrying.

not that I'm not looking forward to going for haj, it's the preparation part that's getting a bit worrying.

last sunday, we had the taklimat perjalanan. As they were showing the scenes of pilgrims checking in at kelana jaya, it dawned on me, this is for real, we are really going.

during the tea break, we got talking to a couple who seemed to be around our age. their bedroom was already full of stuff, which they haven't managed to pack because they have not collected the bag from rayhar yet. we? ummm... we haven't even got around to buying stuff.

so monday, we collected the bag at rayhar. then we went to mydin and bought pretty much most of the clothing stuff we need. the kids had fun shopping for their stuff. later that night, we went to guardian to get more stuff.

I also got a haircut. which later included a dandruff treatment. after 20+ years of dandruff-ridden, it felt a weird kind of nice to be dandruff free. no more really really itchiness catching me at unexpected times.

as I was going through the stuff at home, it suddenly felt like preparing to go back and live in a dorm again -- this high probability that the room-mates will have stuff similar if not identical to mine, and thus the urge to tag the items. haven't tagged clothing items since leaving mrsm!

and the nearer the day comes, the surer I feel there'll be buckets of tears from yours truly upon leaving the kids behind....

countdown

we have the flight date already -- check-in 9 Nov, flight itself is a little past midnight, and coming back Dec 23. According to the agent, still unconfirmed, but I hope changes won't be major like Kak Mas -- her flight changed from 25 nov to 5 nov!

Tons of stuff to get done. Papa is going to Dubai tonight, until Tuesday, presentation for a major project. Next week is the last week of class, on Saturday Azraf has his Ihtifal and Graduation day, the haj taklimat is on Sunday. Then have to finish all the gradings and submit all the grades in. I'm going to worry about clearing up the office later.

The kids are having their final exams next week.

And have to decide on the menu for the doa selamat.

haj 1429

alhamdulillah, have received written confirmation we are going for haj this year.
flight plans not known yet, should know by next week.

have to go, nia is pushing all the right buttons to make najwan scream.

Third time lucky!

We first hustled Azraf to the dentist for his first tooth extraction in April after we noticed his permanent tooth was already out. Dr Salwa took a look and said the milk tooth wasn't budging at all, and she said the permanent tooth would push to the front and loosen up the milk tooth and then it would be ready for extraction. She didn't want to have to inject Azraf and after our experience with Hania, oh yes, definitely no injection if we could avoid it.

In June, after MUCH persuasion we managed to get Hania to the dentist to extract her tooth. The previous visit, she was literally screaming when she was bundled inside the car. So Azraf also had his second visit with Dr Salwa. Nope, not loose enough. (and in Hania's case, that particular visit made her feel a little less terrified of the dentist).

This Wednesday (8 Oct), Azraf was playing with abang and he got kicked in the mouth, which knocked his tooth loose. So we hustled yet again to the dentist, with Azraf also knowing this time this was it -- he was finally going to get his first tooth out. I guess it's hard being the last kid in the class who still has all his baby teeth.

When the dental nurse called his name out, he rushed inside the room and right away went up the chair and smiled eagerly. The nurse was surprised :).

A little spray, and Dr Salwa has his tooth out. One more growing up milestone.

Azraf is eager for the next visit, he very proudly sported his cotton-filled mouth :). The person who seemed that wasn't a fun visit was Najwan who saw it all.

Hmm.. looking at the date -- he has to choose his dentist aunt's birthday -- happy birthday uda.